NCAE News Bulletin
5
Maureen Stover
Science teacher and NCAE member Maureen M. Stover has been named the 2020 Burroughs Wellcome Fund North Carolina Teacher of the Year. She teaches at Cumberland International Early College High School in Cumberland County and was selected from a field of nine finalists representing the state’s eight education districts and charter schools. Known to her students as the “Science Mom,” Stover is a former intelligence officer in the U.S. Air Force. She began her teaching career 11 years ago, and has been teaching Biology, Earth and Environmental Science, and AVID for the last three years. She earned an undergraduate degree in Biology from the United States Air Force Academy, has two master’s degrees in education – one in curriculum and instruction with an emphasis on STEM education from Adams State University in Colorado and another in secondary science education from Western Governors University in North Carolina. Stover said her students understand that her commitment to them extends beyond the 90 minutes of classroom instruction they receive each day. “My students are my ikigai,” she said in her Teacher of the Year submission. “In the Japanese culture, ikigai means life’s purpose. My ikigai is helping my students develop academically, socially, and emotionally as they transition from adolescence into adulthood. I have found that one of the most important parts of being a teacher is the relationships I form with my students.” Beyond helping students achieve academic success, Stover added, “My role as a classroom teacher is to be part giver of knowledge, part cheerleader, part counselor, part mom, part nurse, and part what my kids need me to be that day.” As the teacher of the year, Stover said she hopes to advocate more for teaching social and emotional learning to students. She said schools do a good job of teaching reading, writing, and other content, but worries teachers sometimes “lose focus” on helping students with social-emotional needs. She also said that one issue she hopes to see get more
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traction this coming year is movement on the long-running Leandro case. “I would really like to see the implementation of the recommendations from the Leandro report,” she said. “I am excited that we’re going to begin putting them into action this school year.” As the Burroughs Wellcome Fund North Carolina Teacher of the Year, Stover will spend the school year traveling the state as an ambassador for the teaching profession. During her second year of service she will receive the use of a new vehicle and the opportunity to attend a seminar at the N.C. Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT), a mobile device from Lenovo, an engraved vase, a one-time cash award of $7,500, a trip to the National Teacher of the Year Conference and International Space Camp, and the opportunity to travel abroad through an endowment sponsored by Go Global NC. She will also serve as an advisor to the State Board of Education for two years and as a board member for the N.C. Public School Forum for one year. NCAE member Tonya Smith, the Triad Regional Teacher of the Year, will serve as part of the Teacher of the Year Team with the seven other finalists. She is a vocal and general music teacher at Elkin Middle and Elkin High schools in the Elkin City Schools System. In her 24th year of teaching, Smith said she became a teacher in hopes of making a positive difference in the lives of others. “I want students to celebrate themselves and each other in the most radically inclusive way possible.” She said the greatest thing about teaching is the relationships she forms with her students. She loves watching them grow, succeed, and reach their full potential. It’s also challenging. The biggest challenge, she added, is being aware of inequities and not being able to fully assist them or guarantee a resolution to their problems. When asked what her hope for the future of education is, she said, “My hope is that we will be able to eliminate inequities in educational programs and provide equitable opportunities for all students across the state and nation.”